Tag Archive for Army Corps of Engineers

According to the Army Corps of Engineers, the bike path was finally reopened following months of repair and maintenance on the stretch below Griffith Park, after it was closed to install needless flood barricades for the storms that never came last winter.

Now weekday riders can finally stop following that circuitous and bike-unfriendly detour that was put in place to get around the construction work. Or more likely, start riding the path again after finding other routes or modes of transportation for the past several months.

That could pose a significant challenge to the more traditional bikeshare programs — if you can call something that only gained significant US acceptance in this decade “traditional.”

Programs like LA’s Metro Bike, which costs nearly three times as much if you don’t have a membership while offering less flexibility, could struggle to compete against cheaper competition that will inevitably arrive within the next few years — at a significant cost to the taxpayers footing the bill.

If Metro Bike, and others like Santa Monica’s Breeze and West Hollywood’s WeHo Pedals, are to succeed, they will have to expand quickly into currently unserved areas, while somehow addressing the issue of affordability.

Because, as the taxi industry has learned the hard way, it’s a lot more convenient to just pick up your phone to find and pay for a ride.

Whether you’re on four wheels. Or soon, two.

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Local

Los Angeles Magazine offers advice on how to keep ridership surging on the Expo Line, including a call for better pedestrian access. The same could be said for bicycles, as Westside bikeways leading to and from the Expo Line aren’t just bad, they’re virtually nonexistent.

Bicycling, the magazine, gets it right, as contributors say bicycling, the sport/transportation/activity, is the key to a lifetime of pure, unadulterated joy. Although my personal joy has been adulterated on numerous occasions by angry drivers, bad roads and bees on the beach. Not to mention my own damn carelessness from time to time.

Caught on video: A Minnesota driver faces charges after brake checking a bike rider, then threatening to kill him before nearly running over his foot. All for the crime of being in the driver’s way at a red light.

Life is cheap in Michigan, where a judge refuses to reconsider her original sentence of just one year in county jail for a killer drunk driver who was over twice the legal limit when he ran down a bike rider; sentencing guidelines called for a minimum of nearly two and a half years in state prison, with a max of 15 years.

Chances are, if you rode your bike to work today, it’s going to be dark before you head back home. So make sure your lights are fully charged or have fresh batteries before you ride tonight.

And even if you never ride after dark, throw a set of inexpensive lights in your seat bag in case you get delayed by a flat or mechanical problem.

I’ve learned the hard way that unexpected things can happen to keep you out later than you planned. And it can be scary as hell trying to make it back home without lights surrounded by angry and aggressive drivers.

The LA River trail is a vital link, not just for recreational riders, but for countless people riding to work and school. And closing a large section down for six months when the city is trying to encourage bike commuting makes no more sense than shutting down a major roadway.

The meeting starts at 6:30 this evening, ending at 8:30 pm, at the Friendship Auditorium, 3201 Riverside Drive.

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Jeffrey Fylling forwards a series of road safety PSAs put together as part of a student competition sponsored by Australia’s Amy Gillett Foundation, named for a track cyclist killed in a collision while training in Germany eleven years ago.

I might question the last one, but there’s some damn good work here. Especially for students.

There have always been unwritten rules in regards to what to wear, how the colour of your bar tape has to match your seat and about what bike you ride. But at the end of the day, it really didn’t matter how much your bike was worth because the enjoyment of the sport, the company of your friends and the accomplishment through your legs overruled any blatant materialism.

But it seems, there is a new trend creeping in.

The capitalism-induced search for a new status symbol has changed the reason why people ride bikes. Cycling has become pretty, elitist, materialistic with a seemingly insurmountable wall to be climbed to be accepted into a group. Until then, you will be shamelessly ignored as a hubbard or fred.

That scares me.

It’s a great piece. So take a few minutes to read the whole thing.

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Don’t forget to Bike the Vote when you cast your ballot tomorrow.

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Local

The Wall Street Journal’s Jason Gay takes a look at Gran Fondos, including Phil Gaimon’s Malibu Gran Cookie Dough yesterday, saying they’re as fun or as challenging as you want, and a great way for pro cyclists to connect with their fans. Although he was disappointed pro cycling’s retiring Cookie Monster only ate five cookies along the way.

San Francisco installs speed humps in Golden Gate park where a woman was killed by a speeding hit-and-run driver while riding her bike earlier this year. Once again, too little too late. But maybe it will help prevent the next one.

A bypass is reportedly in the works, most likely directing riders onto Vista del Mar.

Judging by photos tweeted by County Supervisor Don Knabe, it could be some time before the path reopens.

The other bad news is a possible closure of the LA River bike path through Griffith Park, Silver Lake and Atwater Village until next spring.

According to the LA Times, the Army Corps of Engineers will be installing temporary flood control barriers along the river to reduce the risk of flooding this winter.

The Eastsider reports it will cover a three-mile stretch of the river, and may require closure of the bike path, while Councilmember Mitch O’Farrell, who represents the area, says sections will be closed on an “as needed” basis through mid-April.

Construction is expected to start on Monday and take several weeks. Chances are that section of the path will be closed, in all or in part, during the construction phase; whether it reopens afterwards remains to be seen.